Chapter 45
Clarissa POV:-
I have to ask Romulus about it right away, I thought and turned to Romulus who was strolling back to me after leaving Benjamin outside.
“What happened to him at 7?” I asked and I noticed his shoulders sank and he held a weak sigh.
“My grandmother… After losing my grandfather, she has changed, my mother didn’t know the condition my grandmother was in and let her take Apollo to her home… Grandma used to beat him a lot when he did things wrong and abused him… he was so scared of her that he never said any of us about it and tolerated her for years… Cyrus had come to the light to make my grandmother stop beating and he even defended Apollo and told everything she did to my mother… After seeing what my grandmother is doing to Apollo with her own eyes, my mother stopped sending him to her… Cyrus hated my mom for sending Apollo to my grandmother but what he doesn’t know is… that my mother… didn’t want my brother to witness what my father was doing to my mom… she wanted to hide the things my father did to her from him… she didn’t want Apollo to despise our father,” he said with tears in his eyes, I placed my hand on his shoulder.
“My brother has suffered a lot, he has a very troubled childhood…” he added while glancing at me, it upset me to see him like this.
“I tried to help him desperately but he became distinct to everyone… he never allowed anyone to be close to him, he always stayed alone and never tried to socialise with people… even though mom tried hard to hide things from my brother but eventually he discovered what my father was doing… he saw him beating my mom with his belt one night… what my grandmother did to him flashed back to him making him scared of all this… he was traumatized, to help him Cyrus began to grab the light and stay for a long time in charge… to take revenge he began kidnapping my father’s mistresses and tortured them… this continued for years…” He said and took an unsteady breath.
“Did your family members know about this? About Cyrus and Shade?” I asked staring at him,
“Yes, I was the first one to notice his personality changes and eventually everyone in my family noticed this!” he said,
“My father loved my brother, even though my brother hated him, my father always tried his best to please him… Juliette became jealous of the attention Apollo was getting, she began hating him because of it and when she discovered what my father wanted, she began to hate him more…” I recalled what Shade said to me,
He said the same!
“After she got back, she began to seduce him… My naive brother felt it was love, she manipulated him, used him, and always said he can’t satisfy any woman needs… she forced him into thinking he’s not the one any women would prefer to have sex with! She sexually abused him… and that’s when Shade came into existence, he… did terrible things to her… and almost killed her! I had to do something to stop all this,” He spoke and my anger built inside me when he told what Juliette said to Apollo.
“I called Benjamin and before Shade could do anything, we took him to Benjamin’s lab,” he continued, “It took five years for him to come out of all this and be normal… when he came back, I never noticed Cyrus again… but… he was clever, he did things behind my back… the day he took you, made me realise that… I was wrong!” He replied and that night flashed in my mind.
What would have happened if I didn’t follow him that day? A thought passed in my mind.
“You can help him, Clarissa…” he added, causing me to look at him.
“I know you love him… I can see it in your eyes, you have to tell him that! Give him a reason to fight for himself,” he said and I found myself nodding my head at him. The love he had for his brother was evident in his eyes and I admire it.
“I’ll check whether he’s awake?” I replied trying to get away from here, he nodded his head. I got up and quickly rushed towards the stairs, why am I running away? I know I love him? He just stated it! Oh god! This is more complicated than I thought.
I walked to his room and slowly pushed his door open, I walked inside and gently closed the door behind. I strolled towards him and sat at the edge of his bed while watching his peaceful face. Tears rolled in my eyes when I thought of all that happened with him.
He had suffered a lot! I’m so sorry Apollo!
Tears rolled down my eyes and I let them, I sobbed quietly remembering his struggle and it pains me to look at him in a bed like this. A noble person like him has endured so much pain and misery at just the age of seven was very depressing to me. I couldn’t see him give up on himself, I want him to fight, fight for me, I want him to live his life with me. I don’t know if he feels the same or not but I will help him, even if he doesn’t love me. I will give my 100%.
As I was weeping quietly with my head dropped and eyes on the floor, I felt his hand grab mine, I stared at him with my tears strained face and saw him smiling at me. It melted my heart; I couldn’t take my eyes off his smile.Content protected by Nôv/el(D)rama.Org.
He sat up and dragged me to him, “Please don’t cry!” he spoke in a soft tone, he held my palm to his lips and placed a peck on the back of my hand.
“I was scared!” I replied while hiccupping like a child but I couldn’t control myself.
“I-I thought…” I wept but he placed a finger on my lips,
“Sshh!” he responded while wiping my tears,
“Nothing happened to me, I’m absolutely fine darling,” he grinned while taking my face in his palms and beaming at me. He drew me to him while wrapping his hands around me, I wrapped my hands around his neck while crying harder.